The newest aspect of this hobby, for me, is the coolest. I have aways had a sense of pride in things that I do, especially things I do with my hands. Now, actually making and putting together kites, adds a whole new spectrum to this kite "thing".
When I first started flying quads, I thought that was very enjoyable and relaxing, but now that I started sewing , I find it very enjoyable also Now I find that SLK's (especially kites made by myself and other IKEers) are starting to become a bigger part of my involvement in this hobby than I thought they ever would!

Anyway that's my two cents

It's a great satisfaction knowing that for a brief point in time you made a difference.

well my friend, I completely ditto your feelings down to the last period...

When I got into this just last April, I too was enthralled by my and also found it relaxing and invigorating at the same time. Everyone that I talked to about kites immediately got a sour look on their face and I could see the picture in their minds of me standing in a field with a nice paper diamond kite.... I stressed that it wasn't like that and kiting had changed remarkably since I was a kid.

Then I met you, Mike, Ken and the rest of IKE... even back in October though, I had no plans and no desire to make anything... Why make when I can buy?

When I realized that many of the kites you guys had up were actually made by yourselves, I started to consider the possibilities....

When I made the Babbman Circoflex I and put the spars in it, I was literally jumping up and down in excitement at the fact that I actually MADE something that cool with my own hands. My wife thought I was silly...

then I reminded her of how excited she was when she came home and showed me the cat couch that she had crocheted, and the bikini ... and the sweater, and the 10's of blankets etc and she warmed up a bit...

The biggest thrill of all (other than the bikini ) was going out on Dec 23rd, circoflex in hand and putting it in the air.... and I'll be damned if it didn't just fly! And that was my moment... my revelation... and I knew then that I had to find a way to scam every bit of rip stop I could lay my hands on as I am now on a mission ....

I'm glad that Chris and Maddy were out there with me to share it... You couldn't have slapped the grin off of my face....

Another great moment happened today... my boss was big into sailing... I thought, wind sports, he should be interested in kites too... all last year as my involvement and excitement for kiting grew, I was met with a look of total disgust from him at any mention of kites.... even though I tried to explain what kiting is today, there was no interest on his part.... until today, that is. When I showed him some pictures of my Circoflex and Rok, I saw an interest and look of shock on his face and we spent an hour talking about what kiting REALLY is today...

Someone ask once what attacted me to kiting. I said flying a kite was like watching a prayer asend to the heavens. His response was, "Yea. Boy you can't talk to the guys about that!" To fly a kite I made makes that prayer more intimate.

The biggest rush was watching my kids fly kites they made for the first time. They're so uninhibited, and their joy so evident.

When I took Elie and met Chris and Maddy out on the field in Aurora, I was a bit apprehensive at first. When I got back into kiting last year, Jenny and I took Elie out with us a few times and her interest was less than enthusiastic. I bought a small parasail for her and while she held it a few times, I spent more time running after it when she dropped it a few seconds later and started playing with her cars

Yesterday, Elie ran over to Maddy and they just plain had fun beating the crap out of Chris's 'Spikey Ball' as Elie calls it. Then a few mins later, she ran over to Chris's parasled, grabbed the biner he had hanging on it and looked at me with delight and said, 'dada, look, I'm flying a kite!' THAT really warmed my heart!

When we got home, she was still excited and talked on and off about the spikey ball and wanting to help me build my catherine's wheel and playing with Maddy and on and on. Then this morning, she got up, threw herself on the couch and said, 'dada, can I take the spikey ball for show and tell?' And finally, as I was showing her and Jenny my completed Catherine's wheel (yes, pictures going up tonight), she grabbed it and put 'Miss Dolly' up against it and said 'look, Miss Dolly's on a kite!'

I hope this is the start of a loving relationship of my daughter and kiting. I don't think I'll have to worry about bringing her with me on club flies with the thought of having a friend for her to play with and an excitement for things that fly... I'm so excited that I could just bust...

Maybe something we could put a focus on would be the relationship of kids and kites... as I found out, there is nothing like a kids excitement to bring out the kid in all of us. For me, the only reason I got into kiting in the first place as an adult was her begging me to fly a kite after watching Mary Poppins all last winter...

I totall agree with you on the kids and kites events. When I first got into Astronomy and kiting the hobbies were all about ME. How much fun I had...what cool stuff I got. It wasnt long and our astronomy club held it's first public viewing at Perry Farm. Now PF is not the best place for viewing the heavens above. There is too much stray light to ruin our night vision. But when the kids came at dusk with their parents it was all about them. I saw their faces light up when they got their first look at the rings of Saturn or the polar caps of Mars. At that point Astronomy became more about them and less about me. I was asked 2 years ago to go to a local grade school on the less fortunate side of town. The kids came from mostly single parent homes. I gave a 30 min. quad demo in the school yard then fielded questions for about 15 mins. The kids really seemed to enjoy the show. About a week later I got a suprise delivered to my shop. The teacher came in and handed a 3 foot homemade thankyou card the kids had made me. They all signed it with own little comments under their names. Some said "cool kites" a few mentioned that they liked the red kite or the green kite. But one stood out alone from the other comments. A little guy named Damon signed his name and under it wrote:" When I grow up I want to be a kite flier just like you." I still have that card. THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!